Monday, January 17, 2022

R.I.P.: Lee Kline, Longtime Iowa Farm Broadcaster

Radio broadcaster Lee Kline

Lee Kline, a noted farm broadcaster and Iowa radio personality, died peacefully of natural causes at age 91 in a Des Moines hospice on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.

Born Marvin Leon Kline on January 25, 1930, he was raised on a farm just north of Conrad, a small town in central Iowa. He graduated with honors from high school in Conrad and later graduated from Iowa State University in 1951 with a degree in agricultural journalism. 

After a few years as a public relations specialist for the Chicago Stockyards, in 1954, Kline joined the growing farm department at WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, his life-long career dream.

On the air for 41 years as a full-time farm broadcaster for WHO, Kline became known for his warm interviewing style, natural curiosity, recordings of unique sounds and an ability to prompt heart-felt stories from farmers, families, businesspeople, celebrities, and politicians. Kline retired from full-time broadcasting in 1995, but continued his popular, weekly "Lee Kline's Notebook" radio broadcasts on WHO and WMT (Cedar Rapids) for another 23 years until age 88 in 2018. 

His broadcast career spanned a total of 64 years.

No comments:

Post a Comment